1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the management of data between a plurality of electronic devices through short-range wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method and system for managing data between a plurality of electronic devices in a Near Field Communication (NFC).
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), are frequently used for communication, such as for example, Short Field communication (SFC), Near Field Communication (NFC) and communication over a telecommunication network. However, the use of portable electronic devices is not limited to communication. They can also be used for storing context information, storing personal information, aggregating information, sharing data, listening music, and watching stored videos.
For example, a user of a mobile phone can store personal information or context information in the mobile device. Context information is any information that can be used to characterize the situation of an entity. An entity is a person, place, or object that is considered relevant to interaction between a user and an application. Further, the context information can change dynamically based on the environment of the user.
Through the use of electronic devices the user can share data, such as personal information and/or context information, with other electronic devices. The data can be shared between two electronic devices through a telecommunication network, a short range wireless communication network, and the like. For example, a mobile phone can share a data file with another electronic device through short range wireless communication, for example, short range radio (Bluetooth®), InfraRed light (IR) and NFC.
For sharing data using Bluetooth® or IR, a user performs several manual activities, such as selecting data to be sent, activating a communication technique (for example, activating Bluetooth), searching for an electronic device in the vicinity of the mobile phone, selecting an electronic device to which the data is to be sent, and sending the data to the selected electronic device. For the following description the term Bluetooth® will also be referred as Bluetooth (BT).
However, in NFC, which is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology, a communication channel is established automatically as soon as two electronic devices are placed close proximity to one another. NFC enables the exchange of data between devices that are within ˜10 centimeters (cm). Further, NFC is a short range wireless communication technology that has evolved from a combination of contactless, identification and networking technologies and is complementary to long range technologies.
Thus, in NFC, manual intervention for sharing and exchanging data is very minimal. Hence, it is more convenient for users to share data using NFC. But currently through NFC, only transfer of static data is possible. There exists no method in NFC for exchanging context information between a plurality of electronic devices. Also, the information cannot be aggregated and changed dynamically between a plurality of electronic devices.